Two Newburgh area women die from swine flu, officials confirm

Wednesday

Jul 1, 2009 at 2:00 AMJul 21, 2009 at 1:27 PM

GOSHEN — Two Newburgh-area women in their 30s have died after being hospitalized with swine flu, Orange County officials said Wednesday.

One victim was 32 and died June 22 at the Cornwall campus of St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital. County officials got confirmation Monday night that the woman had swine flu, and held off reporting that until Wednesday because they were trying to contact her family, said Dr. Jean Hudson, the county health commissioner.

The other victim was 37 and died Wednesday at the same hospital, Hudson said. The county had already gotten laboratory results on Friday indicating she had Novel H1N1, the technical name for swine flu.

The two women had no known contacts, Hudson said.

Hudson stressed the importance of washing hands, using hand sanitizer and staying home or keeping children home for even mild flu-like symptoms. The risk is infecting people who are more vulnerable.

“It so important to keep your kids home, even if they don’t seem very sick,” Hudson said.

Swine flu has waned in much of the country since an outbreak began in April but remains prevalent in the Northeast.

Most cases have been mild, although 127 deaths had been reported by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of last Friday.

The two Newburgh-area women were the first Orange County residents to die from the illness.

A 48-year-old Pike County woman with swine flu died last month at Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis, but that death was counted by Pennsylvania, not New York.

Health officials have cautioned since the outbreak began that some 36,000 people die from seasonal flu each year and that it was likely that swine flu would claim lives.

Most people who have died from swine flu had complications from an underlying medical condition such as asthma, cardiovascular illness or morbid obesity.

The 32-year-old local woman who died had an unspecified medical condition, but the 37-year-old woman didn’t, Hudson said.

The county medical examiner will conduct autopsies on both victims and send blood and tissue samples to federal authorities to determine what contributed to the deaths.

Until recently, local doctors have seen a combination of seasonal and swine flu cases, even though the seasonal type usually disappears in the spring.

Those cases have now dissipated, indicating that all current flu cases are the swine variety, Hudson said.

Nationwide, the average age of people catching swine flu is 19 and the average age for fatal cases has been 37, Hudson said.cmckenna@th-record.com

CHRIS McKENNATimes Herald-Record

GOSHEN — Two Newburgh-area women in their 30s have died after being hospitalized with swine flu, Orange County officials said Wednesday.

One victim was 32 and died June 22 at the Cornwall campus of St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital. County officials got confirmation Monday night that the woman had swine flu, and held off reporting that until Wednesday because they were trying to contact her family, said Dr. Jean Hudson, the county health commissioner.

The other victim was 37 and died Wednesday at the same hospital, Hudson said. The county had already gotten laboratory results on Friday indicating she had Novel H1N1, the technical name for swine flu.

The two women had no known contacts, Hudson said.

Hudson stressed the importance of washing hands, using hand sanitizer and staying home or keeping children home for even mild flu-like symptoms. The risk is infecting people who are more vulnerable.

“It so important to keep your kids home, even if they don’t seem very sick,” Hudson said.

Swine flu has waned in much of the country since an outbreak began in April but remains prevalent in the Northeast.

Most cases have been mild, although 127 deaths had been reported by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of last Friday.

The two Newburgh-area women were the first Orange County residents to die from the illness.

A 48-year-old Pike County woman with swine flu died last month at Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis, but that death was counted by Pennsylvania, not New York.

Health officials have cautioned since the outbreak began that some 36,000 people die from seasonal flu each year and that it was likely that swine flu would claim lives.

Most people who have died from swine flu had complications from an underlying medical condition such as asthma, cardiovascular illness or morbid obesity.

The 32-year-old local woman who died had an unspecified medical condition, but the 37-year-old woman didn’t, Hudson said.

The county medical examiner will conduct autopsies on both victims and send blood and tissue samples to federal authorities to determine what contributed to the deaths.

Until recently, local doctors have seen a combination of seasonal and swine flu cases, even though the seasonal type usually disappears in the spring.

Those cases have now dissipated, indicating that all current flu cases are the swine variety, Hudson said.

Nationwide, the average age of people catching swine flu is 19 and the average age for fatal cases has been 37, Hudson said.cmckenna@th-record.com

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